In addition to the usual consequences that each intense rain causes in rural areas, the Santa Rosa storm set off all the alarms in the gastronomic center of Carlos Keen, which stretches to Villa Ruiz.
The fact is that the residents of those two towns in the districts of Luján and San Andrés de Giles, respectively, paid special attention to the roads transformed into impassable mud tracks for anyone who does not have an all-terrain vehicle.
These dirt paths would be the only alternatives for residents and tourists if a project that would interrupt passage along the only paved routewhich links the two towns with Highway 7, from the milestone at kilometer 72.
The area is recognized as a important gastronomic and rural tourism hubwith a large number of grills and country restaurants, where barbecue and homemade pasta are the biggest attractions.
But it is also famous for local production and now the focus is reopening of the Villa Ruiz refrigeratorwhose pork processing activity enables some 50 jobs in a first stage and announces many more for when the plant reaches its maximum operational capacity.
The residents have been on alert since April, when the mayor of San Andrés de Giles, Miguel Gesualdi – in agreement with his colleague from Luján, Leonardo Boto -, approached the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Services of the Province of Buenos Aires and Provincial Roads the lowering work on the road at the Pacific Bridge underpass -just over a kilometer from Route 7, in the Cañada de Rocha area-, to facilitate the passage of livestock and meat transport vehicles.
That announcement, confirmed by a temporary sign installed steps from the viaduct, warned of a six month period to complete the work, which would force them to opt for the limited network of informal roads to reach their destination.
A group of residents of Carlos Keen and Villa Ruiz, among whom are tourism entrepreneurs, residents of three private neighborhoods and members of the school communities of four establishments, raised concerns before the members of the Deliberative Council of Luján – the district where the focus of the conflict is located -, due to the eventual impact that the passage of large trucks in front of their properties and to the detriment of the flow of visitors, a movement that intensifies greatly on weekends and holidays.
As a possible way to resolve the issue, the residents propose to the authorities that condition the dirt traces with pavement so that the trucks can reach the refrigerator from Cucullú, Villa Espil or San Andrés de Giles, without crossing the urban area of Carlos Keen.
Although the direct alternative via the only paved road – the 17 kilometer detour towards Carlos Keen and Villa Ruiz – for vehicles traveling westward means traveling 30 kilometers less and save payment at the Villa Espil toll plaza.
“The source of work that the refrigerator represents is very important and we want it to be maintained. But, at the same time, we want the suburban area of the Carlos Keen-Villa Ruiz Ecological Corridor and Gastronomic Pole not to be destroyed,” explains Marisa Semino, who lives in Keen.
The note from the residents sent to the legislative body of Luján on August 19 warns about the risk of “isolation” and the possible “economic, social, health, environmental, tourist and educational impact” which could cause the work “Readjustment of the low level on the railway track on Secondary Road 064-05”.
The response from the community came two days later. Gathered in Carlos Keen, municipal and Provincial Highway officials assured residents that the road closure is suspended. until alternative routes guarantee access and exit of the town and that, over the course of a month starting August 21, improvement and stabilization work will be carried out with the provision of asphalt milling on the two alternative roads (one of them detaches from the Roca bridge on Route 7, the exit before the detour to Keen and Villa Ruiz), signage and lighting at the critical points of the detours.
While they wait for the start of the asphalt improvement work, the residents were also informed by the Municipality of Luján that the road workers will wait for the arrival of a succession of days with good weather conditions, starting on September 20, to cut the route for 15 days, although the work – which includes water works outside the main road – would not prevent the use of the bridge crossing on weekends.
While the dialogue reached by the parties seems to advance along the path of collective interest, The conflict revived the historical needs demanded by neighborssuch as the postponed construction of a rise next to the highway that points to the city of Buenos Aires and the recovery and sanitation for the community of Villa Ruiz del Arroyo de la Cruz, whose coastal strip was fenced with a fence, which limits the walk so that it can be enjoyed only by the inhabitants of a gated community.